February, 1916. 



American Hee Journal 



and like enough Editor Root's views, 

 page 965, are not far out of the way. 

 But we must be a little on our guard 

 lest the pendulum should swing too 

 far the other way, shortening the flight 

 of the bee unnecessarily. 



The whole subject is one of very 

 great importance, and we should wel- 

 come every real item of information 

 regarding it. It isn't altogether a mat- 

 ter of mere distance. Other factors 

 have a bearing, and possibly some that 

 have never been thought of. Editor 

 Root springs a new one when he sug- 

 gests "that the flight of bees in quest 

 of nectar is dependent on the distance 

 they can see pasturage." It is easier 

 for me to believe that bees might smell 

 a field of clover 5 miles away than that 

 they could see it at that distance. Ever 

 watch bees at work on a basswood 

 tree ? You'll see the bees at one side 

 of the tree flying back and forth per- 

 haps within a yard or two of the foli- 

 age, and none on the opposite side. No 

 matter how slight the breeze, the bees 

 will be seen on the lee side, the side 

 from which the breeze wafts the odor. 

 But then if we say bees go by odor, we 

 ought to expect a cloud of bees always 



about a field of red clover, for the odor 

 of it is great. So there you are. Just 

 between you and me, I don't know 

 much about bees anyway. c. c. M. 



Beekeeping Simplified 



This is the title of a small English 

 work, of 48 pages, with 57 cuts, by W. 

 Herrod-Hempsall, Editor of the British 

 Bee Journal. Price 60". 



This little work contains the rudi- 

 ments of beekeeping with instructions 

 for starting an apiary in the modern 

 way. The straw skep is given a men- 

 tion, but with the very explicit state- 

 ment that the old methods are " strongly 

 deprecated." The specially interesting 

 part of this booklet, for an American, 

 is that relating to taking the bees to 

 the heather, a specially ventilated hive 

 being advised for the purpose. Heather 

 honey is mentioned as so " gelatinous " 

 as impossible to extract by centrifugal 

 force. So a method of pressing is de- 

 vised and the cut of a peculiarly 

 grooved press shown. 



That bees without combs are not 

 shipped so far in Great Britain as in 

 the United States is evidenced by the 



method given of confining them, by 

 "tying over the receptacle containing 

 them a piece of cheese straining cloth." 

 In long confinements such as neces- 

 sary here, the bees would pull the cloth 

 apart and liberate themselves. 



The book is well gotten up, finely 

 printed and worth fully its price. 



California Beekeeping 



The Western Honey Bee, published 

 at Covina, Calif., in its December num- 

 ber publishes an appeal to California 

 beekeepers to sustain that magazine. It 

 is a good journal, published by a prac- 

 tical man, and should have the support 

 of beekeepers on the Pacific Coast, for 

 a publication of its character is neces- 

 sary there. The present low prices of 

 honey in California will certainly not 

 last, if the history of the past is a crite- 

 rion for the future. Those who have 

 honey in abundance and can afford to 

 hold it will secure a better price before 

 long. In the years of plenty it is well 

 to store product for the years of scarc- 

 ity. The story of Joseph and the seven 

 years of plenty and the seven years of 

 famine still proves true in modern 

 days. 



Dr. C. C. Miller's Personal Recollections 



Life Story of America's Best Known Beekeeper 



(Continued from January number.) 



THROUGH a good part of the two 

 years my rising hour was 4 a.m., 

 when I began study. I got a sort 

 of exercise by standing a considerable 

 part of the time while studying. 



That my mind might not be distracted 

 from study, I determined to have noth- 

 ing to do with female society. I do not 

 recall talking with any woman or girl 

 except with Mrs. Nott, the wife of the 

 president of the college, Eliphalet Nott, 

 D. D. I sang part of the time in the 

 choir of the Methodist church. My 

 seat happened to be next that of a 

 young woman, and if she asked me 

 about the hymn we were to sing, I 

 pointed with my finger to the place, but 

 I never spoke. 



The financial problem was perhaps 

 the most difficult. When I arrived at 

 college I had less than $70—1 think it 

 was $68 and some cents. I did any- 

 thing and everything I could find to do 

 to add to that sum, or rather to keep it 

 from being exhausted, for it was more 

 by keeping down expenses than by 

 earning money that I managed to get 

 through. I had the benefit of a public 

 fund which made my tuition low. I do 

 not remember that I bought any cloth- 

 ing. I had one Sunday suit that lasted 

 me, and I was fairly provided for every 

 day with serviceable clothing, albeit 

 some of it was a bit bizarre, such as 

 trousers checked green and red of 

 homemade linsey-woolsey, and a wam- 



tnus of substantial homemade flannel 

 such as money cannot buy nowadays. 

 A wammus takes the place of a coat, 

 being a sort of jacket with sleeves, 

 hanging loosely down and coming per- 

 haps 6 inches below the waist. Gen- 

 erally you do not let it hang down, but 



Dr. Miller at 54 



take hold of the two corners in front 

 and tie them in a knot. 



I peddled maps and books in vaca- 

 tion ; taught singing-school ; and among 

 other things worked in what was called 

 Capt. Jack's garden, a number of acres 

 then in the rough, but afterward a place 

 of beauty, at that time in the care of 

 Prof. Jackson. One Sunday he got me 

 to watch the garden against intruders. 

 It was mostly woods, and I wandered 

 about at ease, for no one intruded, and 

 in my ramblings I came upon a little 

 patch of strawberries, and I sampled all 

 of them that were colored. Afterward 

 I learned that one of the chief things 

 I was in the garden for was to make 

 sure that no one would disturb a small 

 Ded of Wilson's Albany strawberries, 

 then an entirely new thing, which in 

 after years I planted by the acre. 



In some way, perhaps as a pastime, I 

 nad learned to write German text, 

 which now stood me in good stead. I 

 nad the job of filling into the diplomas 

 the names of most of the graduates of 

 the two years. I got 50 cents for each 

 name. It was close work, and very 

 hard on the eyes, the work being done 

 by an innumerable number of strokes 

 with a fine steel pen on the greasy 

 parchment. 



But the greatest chance for economy 

 was on my board bill. I boarded myself 

 the whole time, and my rations were 

 chosen not because well balanced, but 

 because inexpensive. The staple article 



